Measures have been taken to reduce groundwater tapping in Turpan Basin in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in a bid to preserve rare oasis in the scorching desert.

According to the local government's recent regulations, land cultivation and well-digging should be strictly controlled to save groundwater.

Any land use projects should get approvals from the state resources authorities, the regulations say.

Turpan Basin is China's lowest and most seething terrain. The groundwater level has dropped 20-30 meters over the early 1980s level.

The population grows with industrial and agricultural developments in the region and is exhausting the limited groundwater resources. The over exploitation of groundwater also caused 833 out of 1,237 karezes in the basin dry out.

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2005)